Ukraine’s air force said it shot down its own drone on Thursday after it lost control over Kiev.
Kyiv:
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down its own drone that lost control of Kiev on Thursday after a series of explosions rocked the capital.
The explosions, which reverberated in Kiev for about 15 to 20 minutes, followed a wave of overnight Russian attacks between Wednesday and Thursday.
“At approximately 8:00 am (1700 GMT) an unmanned aerial vehicle Bayraktar TB2 lost control during a scheduled flight in the Kiev region … the target was destroyed!” The Air Force said it was establishing a “probable” technical malfunction as the cause.
At the time of the explosions, AFP reporters saw a drone attempting to shoot down the air defenses, while the Kiev city military administration said “the air defenses are working.”
As the military administration of the city of Kiev announced the end of the air raid alert, journalists saw a cloud of black smoke in the air.
Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko said “firefighters extinguished the blaze on the ground floor of a four-story shopping center” in the Solomensky district.
Klitschko said the fire spread to 50 square meters (538 square feet) and caused some superficial damage but there were no reports of casualties.
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